Thugly bears a striking resemblance to Mugly, however he has hot iron plates attached to his back and is purple in color. He has a more rounded snout and sharper horns as well. He also has a black tongue instead of a pink one.

Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong meet Thugly when they rocket up into a cave in the mountains. When they arrive they notice Thugly eating up their bananas. And suddenly, without warning, the Tiki Tak Tribe shows up, and Xylobone puts Thugly in a hypnotic trance and forces him to battle the Kongs. Thugly has several battle states. He will sprint, curling up his iron plates with each skid. When his back plates remain open, the Kongs are compelled to jump on his back. In addition, in each state, he'll dash at the duo and make boulders fall, thus soon succumbing to dizziness, and falls on his back. The Kongs must seize the opportunity to pounce on his stomach. After three hits, he will turn to orange. During this stage of the battle, he will blast streams of flame, under which the Kongs must duck. After he is hit some more, he will turn red, and spit meteorites. After Thugly's defeat, DK will wallop Xylobone, and move on with his adventure.

Thugly charges at you after being hypnotized by Xylophone Tiki. The weak spot on his back is well protected by an opposite-of-a-weak-spot shell. When he comes to an abrupt halt, the shell will flip forward. At last, the time to strike! Thugly should really get some bungee cords or something to hold that in place.

A charging monster controlled by a Tiki called Xylobone. There's a weak point on his large back, but it's covered by a thick shell, so can it even be called a weakness at all? Well, it doesn't protect him all the time - when he brakes suddenly, the shell flips open! Someone should tell Thugly to glue that thing down...

^"Thugly is related to Mugly, the boss from the first area in the Jungle. Therefore, many of the tactics you used to defeat Mugly will come in handy here." — Michael Knight, Donkey Kong Country Returns Prima Official Game Guide, page 120